If
by Cuz I'm Nice Like That
Summary: What if Daniel was the eldest Meade? What if the cahoots of Wilhelmina and Bradford ran far deeper than expected? What if the 7 year relationship of a couple are tested by first season trials? What if we travel back to season one and two and allow the drama to run rampant, all over a new kind of Danimina?
1. Prolouge

_Hey! I know that I have been really absentee lately but life and school have begun to take a toll and I am posting this to get a scope of who is reading and if this will be a one shot or a chapter-by-chapter fic. I don't know how many have fallen off the wagon lol but this will help me to find out. Please enjoy, read and review!_

_**-NWJ**_

My name is Daniel Meade and...my father hates me. There is no better way to describe the disdain that he holds me in or the scowl that becomes his face anytime his presence intertwines with mine. Quite simply...He hates me; not that I can blame him. As the oldest, I can understand his expectation of me to be exactly what I am not; abstractly conformed to a business suit and an office. However, I do not wish to be his protegee or his mini Alex...

Sometimes I feel like he would love me more if I died in a skiing accident too.

Alex was the best at what he did, and dad loved him for it. He was supposed to love _me_ for it; being the oldest, but I never had any interest in tying the affection of my father with the witless achievements of a tie and a desk. I abdicated the favorite son throne and Alex, as the youngest...happily took my place. Dad gave him Hudson and within a few months I was the throwaway. I was the sigh at the dinner table on Thanksgiving. The groan at a family get-together.

The Mistake.

But of course, it's not Alex's fault. He couldn't help the fact that Dad's value of his own flesh and blood lies in their public achievements. Quite frankly, over the years, my value of my father's opinion has also diminished into the miniscule absence of an overdue lecture. In other words;

I don't give a damn.

And why should I, I am the luckiest man on the face of this Earth and no one can take that from me, no matter how hard they try. Because I'm in love with Wilhelmina Slater

And that is all that matters.

X

My name is Wilhelmina Slater and on a daily basis, I live a lie. Day in and day out I am this fanged, oozing monster with heels and I am at the beck and call of THE boogeyman herself. Fey Sommers. I become this person when I get off of that elevator; when I round that orange doughnut I am not my own...I'm not me. On the sidewalk, I'll even say good morning to the hotdog vendor around the corner but the minute I get inside Meade, my face contorts at the sight of the special boy in the mail room.

I feel like I'm suffocating, forced to wear the tight stilettos of someone who wants me to be them, that wants me to inherit their legacy. I don't want the mantle; but I do want the glory. I'm not going to lie and say that the words Editor-In-Chief don't leave me salivating; that they don't ignite the drive in me to mow down whoever gets in my way but the things that I will go through to get there...The secrets that I will keep; that I have...They can destroy me.

Like the fact that my boss is screwing the man who is practically my father-in-law. Of course, you can say that we are not married but I've been with Daniel long enough to be considered as such...And I know this much about his father's personal life. Every time Bradford sees me I can practically see the nod of his eyes as if each time we encounter one another we have to affirm the others' secret. I keep his affair private.

And in 6 months Fey Sommers abdicates the throne at Mode in favor of her protegee.

But Daniel doesn't know this and he can't know. He doesn't know this side of me, the ruthlessness that invades my body when I want something...Sure he saw it when we first started; when I kicked his ass into shape after Fey enlisted me to help her do Bradford a favor. She thought that he was getting distracted by his favorite screw-up and Fey came up with the idea to reel him in using her supermodel assistant to put Bradford at ease. Little did she know; sending me out to scare Daniel Meade onto the straight and narrow would end up with him and I..._doing_ the straight and narrow.

But of course he doesn't know this...Because I love him too much...I...I have to protect him from me...I have to protect him from who I am; from this fanged, oozing monster.

Not to mention the fact that I know that Alex...Is now Alexis.

X

My name is Claire Meade and I am an alcoholic...Does this make you feel better? My admittance that I have a problem or do I need to walk in front of a camera and expel my dirty laundry to the world? Everyone seems to want me to admit my issue and fix it yet no one seems to be the least bit concerned over how this issue came about. Or what exactly pushed me to find that a bottle to the lips could be synonymous with a warm blanket during a blizzard or an umbrella during a storm. No one told me that my superhero could my kryptonite.

When I drink, the world stops...literally...The world stops and Alex is alive...The world stops and my husband stops screwing the Editor-In-Chief of his flagship magazine and my son...my son finally leaves that boil of a person and moves on with his life. But that never happens...And it will never happen so if for one second, one goddamn second I can bring my children closer to me and resurrect my marriage then goddammit, that's exactly what I will do. And you nor the press nor my family has any ounce of righteousness to judge me because there is not a person on the face of this Earth who cam tell me that they wouldn't give their life for their children...So if I'm killing myself; so be it. My impact on this world seems to have come and gone anyway.

So what's the big deal if I kill Fey Sommers.

X

_The color of the day? Black, as the fashion world mourns the monumental loss of the fashion mogul Fey Sommers. Sommers perished earlier this week to a fiery car crash; the apparent resultant of a brake malfunction. As the investigation continues, thousands gather to mourn the legend; the icon. Fey Elizabeth Sommers: Editor-In-Chief of Mode Magazine, flagship publications of the international cooperation; Meade Publications._

_If you look closely, you can see the mourners prepare to filter in through the gates of the graveyard; awaiting the drive by of the coffin before the body of Fey Sommers' is placed in an underground crypt that, according to insiders, has been specified by the head of Meade, Grandpa Bradford, to be locked and encased as to protect Fey's remains._

_Speaking of such, there goes Bradford now. He is entering alone, sans Eau Claire amidst the rumors of her admittance into the Byron Bay clinic for her penchant for using a whiskey mouthwash._

_Oh, and right behind him is a black limo; presumably the Meade mistake?_

She feels him, his sympathy and his yearn to say something that would take that damned look off of her face. He searches for something that would make this day even the slightest bit easier for her but nothing comes to mind. The only thing that he can find himself to do is maintain the rhythmic motions on her back as she stares ahead, eyes never falling from the windshield. Feeling the vehicle halt beneath him, he takes his hand away and adjusts his tie, still concerned for her mental state.

Almost in a trance, he had only seen her so stoic on single digit occasions; not many. Today he would be adding another day to the list, seeing that she didn't even seem to flinch when the limo stopped. Without warning, she churned her head lightly; Her hand unconsciously reaching for her stomach as her breathing returned to a static level and her eyes diverted to the passing mourners as they passed by the car; craning their necks nosily as they entered the graveyard in an attempt to get a peak at who was inside.

HE could tell that she felt sick as she took a breath, but he couldn't understand why. She had no reason to be nervous seeing how she was not even on the program to speak and even if she was he was sure that she wouldn't have a problem with that because she was an excellent public speaker and impeccable with handling the press.

So why did she look like she was hiding something?

"Look, Wils...I know that this might be hard for you. She was your mentor and you two were close...She was probably like a mother to you." His hand rested on her knee and she covered his silently, looking down at their connection. "And today I am here for you; whatever you need...Fey Sommers was a...a different...woman...but I'm sure that despite the daily spats that you too shared, you also had a strong bond." She nodded before covering her eyes with her free hand, her shoulders convulsing as she took short gasps and he slid closer to her. "Willie it's okay, it's okay to-"

"Laugh?" Sh questioned, taking her hand away as she tried to suppress the chuckle that urged in her throat. He furrowed his brows; confused by her actions. She shrugged, smoothing out her shirt with a chuckle. "Fey Sommers...was the bane of my existence...Yes she was like a mother to me but she..." Her voice slowed as did her actions as her fingers pinched at the fabric of her dress; grooming herself in distraction of looking him in his eyes. She couldn't tell him just what Fey Sommers had created. She rose her head to look at him with a sad smile, her hand reaching out to thumb the gruff hair on his face. "I will be fine; don't worry about me, you should be worried about your father."

"Why would I need to be worried about my father?"

Her eyes widened with the slightest fraction and he took note but ignored it as she turned up her red lips, shrugging once again as her mind conjured up an excuse. "Well he just lost the Editor-In-chief of his largest Publication, I would assume that they had grown close over the years."

He nodded. "And even if they didn't, my father will most likely be hard pressed to find someone that can do what the late great Fey Sommers can do."

Wilhelmina agreed sheepishly with a widening of her mouth that she really couldn't classify as a smile because there was nothing joyous about her lying to the love of her life. There was nothing exciting about her deceiving the one person in the world that she knew to love her without a shadow of doubt.

This was not fun for her.

But she had to convince herself that it would all be worth it in the end. She had to make herself believe that when the dust settles, he will still be there with her. She had to convince herself that everything that she was doing was the wrong thing for the right reason; that she was justified. That day, she had to take the unwanted legacy; carry the dangerous mantle.

Be her _faux_ mother's daughter.

"You ready?" She nodded and he exited the limo behind her, opening the door slowly before stepping out. Within seconds, he couldn't have hesitated before the swarm of paparazzi gathered outside the fences of the graveside, poking their mikes into the car as Daniel moved in front of the door opening, blocking their entrance. He looked back and saw his father standing at the gate and he could almost feel the disappointment penetrate his eyes over the fact that the press weren't even concerned with him, it was his lover.

With a sigh, she reached for his hand passed the mikes' and intrusions as he enabled her to move speedily, avoiding any accidents when his hand reached around her waist and pulled her forward, holding her close as they pointed mikes in their direction; speculating over who the job would go to, what were Fey's final words, who did she see last. Daniel led her through, spewing no comment at every bi-line seeking journalist that got in his face until making it to the gate. Bradford held the metal bars open for them, greeting Wilhelmina with a kiss on the cheek and that damned stare before giving his son a weak handshake and side-glare.

Daniel rolled his eyes at his father with a scoff before stuffing his hands in his pockets. He felt her come up behind him, slipping her arm into the bend of his elbow; swatting his hand behind his back as she whispered. "Take your hands out of your pockets, you don't want to look defensive after seeing your father at a funeral that has nothing to do with you." HE looked down at her and she nodded. "You'll look like you have a big ego." She gave him a smile and he chuckled sweetly at her because he knew that she knew that he was anything but an egocentric person. But she was looking out for his best interest and he knew it, tilting her chin up to meet her lips briefly before she leaned her head into his shoulder; their steps advancing towards the crypt.

"This is going to be a long day." He whispered and she nodded against him before mumbling.

"You have no idea."

X

"Can I say something?"

They had endured endless false testimonies of the greatness that was Fey Sommers' as people attempted to kiss the ring that was the deceased to rinse their public image of any malice for the deceased. They were close to being done; every Mode employee and countless fashionistas about to finish dabbing the dry mascara below their eyelashes. Things were wrapping up and closure was given to the non-existent family of Fey Sommers' as, instead of blood relatives, Bradford, Wilhelmina and Daniel took the front row. The end was nearing, well that was the case until Bradford stood up, taking the podium from the unexpected clergyman who stepped aside.

Bradford gripped the podium, looking out into the crowd to see people that he had seen millions of times but could not distinguish them from Adam. Why the hell would he give the job of his lover to a total stranger; to abuse her legacy as they wished. Speaking of legacy, his was lost on him since Alex was gone...Alex took his legacy with him the second he flat lined and now when he died, he was going to be just like Fey. His sand prints were about to be erased by the sea, as if he were never there...IF he died Meade would no longer be a family business...IT would be a financial deal that would live onto profit his great great great great great grandchildren.

But that's not what he wanted.

"Fey Sommers was a...peculiar woman..." He looked down at his tie briefly, fiddling his fingers against the wood. "And an...excellent...Editor-In-Chief...She strived for excellence in every issue and achieved excellence in every issue. She had a loyal staff, especially her long time protegee Wilhelmina Slater." He looked over and Wilhelmina nodded, as Daniel gripped her hand, not knowing what emotional state she would be in or if she would start laughing right then. "They made a great team...Which is why I am quite certain that she will do the same with my eldest son Daniel Pratt Meade as he succeeds her mentor as the new Editor-In-Chief of Mode Magazine...I'm sure that they will make a great team as well."

Wilhelmina could help the gasp that left her mouth and she looked to Daniel, his mouth agape and she finally showed one sign of mourning as a tear rolled down her cheek and onto her coat and she realized that she was not getting the legacy, but just the mantle...The mantle of not having it all...of sacrifices that were not wanted. She wouldn't be able to have it all.

When she looked at him and now felt the ruthlessness rise; the ruthlessness when she wants something, when she realizes that something was going to have to give.

And the secrets would indeed destroy her.

X

_Yes, many unanswered questions, perhaps a click of that review button will help you to seek the answers hahahaha jk, hope you enjoyed!_


	2. Don't Judge Me

_**I hacked up the lyrics to Chris Brown's new song, Don't Judge Me, No copyright infringement intended. If I owned Ugly Betty, I would also be Gavin Doran...Just Saying...BTW, Thank you SOOOO much for the tremendous out pour in the reviews for Chapter 1! Your participation means the world to me! Enjoy =D**_

"Dad no!" If his father knew him, he would be able to tell by the red tips of his ears that he was highly upset. His father had just royally screwed him, knowingly giving him absolutely no choice because if he said no, the world would once again hail him as the failure; passing up the chance of a lifetime. However, media outlets were already calling it the "bitch slap heard 'round the world" because the job was as good as Wilhelmina's. She calls him naive because he hadn't even thought about her taking the opportunity to have Fey's job but now that he thought about it, he knew that she was perfect for the job. HE couldn't take that from her, that opportunity from her repertoire. Besides, he had no interest in conforming himself to the business world. He was content with being in her corner, cheering her on, supporting her all the way.

That was his full time job

"Son what the hell are you doing with your life? You think that holding some woman's purse is going to count for anything? You think that riding her coattails as Mr. Slater is honorable? What have you done in your life—Your little paintings?"

"I have sold hundreds of pieces-"

"No, no, no those little auctions...The anonymous callers? That was your mother, YOUR mother has been buying your artwork and you know where they are? A warehouse in New Jersey." Bradford undid the bottom on his suit jacket with a sigh, stuffing his hands in his pocket as she shook his head at the prospects of his son. "You haven't even married the woman yet...7 years and you can't even commit to her? You have nothing to show for yourself." His father stated boldly. "Alex-"

"Alex what?!" He screamed at the top his lungs, his face convulsing in a red essence as his arms bulged through his tight suit jacket. "What else—What else has Alex fucking Spencer done that I haven't? PLEASE, enlighten me oh great one so that I may repeat the genius of those who have perished!" He spat sarcastically, snatching the door to the mens' room open so that he could leave as Bradford stood, his hands in his pockets and lips pursed as he nodded, with knowledge that soon enough he would be calling back.

He was sure of it.

_**I don't wanna go there  
We should never go there **_

His shoulders were shifting as he walked—Up, down with each step as he marched down the long corridor of the Grand Prospect Hall in search of Wilhelmina because he could no longer stay there deteriorating under the expectations of the world. He had done...things...He had accomplished...things...Hadn't he? He turned the bend and found that she walked right into him, falling into his arms. She looked up at him, noting his labored breathing and red ears; knowing that he and his father had had another blowout. "I need to talk to you." They both spoke simultaneously, gripping at the others arm with an urgency that was unbeknownst to the other.

He nodded, her eyes inclining to the side of him to see the prying eyes; curious as to the dynamics of their relationship. "Come here." His hand rounded her waist and led her back down the empty corridor, hoping that his father had already left. He stopped walking midway, turning around so that her back was on the wall and his hands were as well; on both sides of her head.

"What-" He dipped his head and captured her lips in his; placing a feverish kiss between them that inclined her to cup his jawline, pulling him away with full lips, her thumbs wiping at his lips seeing how they were now smudged with red lipstick. "Did you take the job?" She questioned, only to be answered by his lips massaging hers once again and it was taking all of her to pull away but she had to, deducting her face from his quickly, settling on her feet. "Daniel...Did you take the job?"

"No, no, I could never do that to you." He spoke breathlessly as his head continue shake and without warning, his hands had took hold of her face and set his lips on hers once more. She covered his hands with her own and met him on his emotional high; not wanting to allow him to distract himself with her but knowing that her body was not on the same page as her heart. He pulled away slowly, still holding her cheeks before pecking her lips once more; meeting her eyes directly. "Do you still need to talk to me?" She nodded softly, her nose rubbing against his as his hands squeezed hers.

They needed to talk.

_**Damn why you wanna go there  
I guess I gotta go there**_

"I want you take the job but I don't want you to take the job." She was pacing before him, her hands washing against each other as she attempted to convey her thoughts but was truly at a loss of how to do so. If he took the job then he would know what she became when she walked those halls and yes—She was Wilhelmina damn Slater but things change when they're in that apartment together. She isn't some persona or some icon...Sure she's high maintenance, and crazy and bitchy but it's maintained. At Mode, she has no reason to show people who she is; She has no reason to give people the best of her and with him she would never give him anything less. And if he took that job,

She wasn't sure that would be true anymore.

But this was her career...They weren't married; they hadn't completely committed to each other despite the tender moments that they had and the bed they shared...But they had soul ties, they were connected and there was no doubting that. There was no doubting that she knew that he loved her and she didn't want him to fall back because of that. She didn't want their love to hold him back, to prevent him from making something of himself; bettering himself.

"Wils, I don't want the job." His steps led him to where she paced, halting her movements with the grabbing of her arms; holding her still. "That's not me, you know that that is not me...it's you." He smiled at her, his hands rubbing up and down her forearms. "A fashion magazine Wils...Really?" He chuckled at himself and hugged her. "That's all you..."

He was expecting a reciprocation of some sort, a retort or even a response to the embrace that he was giving her but in that moment, she didn't move. The only thing that she could do was shake her head against his shoulder as he held her. She wanted to believe him, she really did; However the gleam in his eyes was preventing her from doing so. She wasn't an idiot and they weren't drawn to each other because of sex and good looks. She knew him and she knew that deep down in inside, he had a driven ambition that sometimes would roar for a suit and a tie, a name. She saw passed the artsy facade he put on when he would get so invested in helping her crunch numbers for Mode. She knew that painting wasn't his passion when he would stop all that he was doing to help her narrow down the choices for the cover.

He needed his own, he needed a name in that city. A man can only go so long being penetrated with insults and slapped with demeaning and emasculating figures before something inside him changes and makes up his mind to prove the world wrong.

And she knew that he had no intention of doing it through art.

He wanted the job, he needed the job. He needed to reclaim himself in the public and to the press and that was something that she understood but it was not anything that she wanted to hear. She did not want to hear that the love of her life had the same ambition as her and the only way to achieve it for one of them was for the other to be miserable.

His father would salivate at the chance to have him come back to him; tail between his legs. He would probably tell him that she controls him, that he had to be his own man. Things would begin to unravel for them as he soon learned just who she was outside of the four walls of their upper East Side apartment, what she became and what she was capable of.

She didn't want to show that to him, she didn't want him to see the rashes or the marks or the scars...She needed to remain unblemished to her naive boyfriend. Her naive boyfriend of 7 years who knew that she was not the same when she left their apartment, per the newspapers in circulation over her salacious behavior, but he assumed exaggeration and didn't really care as long as the woman that he read about remained at Moe and the woman that he loved came home to him. And if he took that job

That wouldn't be an option.

"You want the job Daniel." She whispered, inclining him to pull back from her. His hands dropped beside him and she folded her arms over her chest with a heaving breath that seemed to blow feet between them as he stared at her and her, at him.

"Honey, I told you that I don't want to job." His voice seemed to plead with her but she could see right past it. She heard the plead, and to untrained ears it would have been a beseech to believe him and know that what he says is true but she knew that it was more of him asking her to pass on her gut, to pass on what she knew to be true and overlook it. He knew that she knew that he wanted the job, that the small chance presented to him had begun to sink in after his argument with his father and now it was all over his mind.

"You want to make your family proud and I get that—I get that. You want to make a name for yourself in this city and you need a legacy too...You're tired of being _just _the Meade mistake beside me; I get th-"

"Wilhelmina, what are you talking about? You know me and I would never take that chain and ball, suit and tie job being confined to a desk-"

"Oh cut the bullshit Daniel, I know you...Yes, I know what kind of man you are and what you value in life but in this moment, today you are being offered an opportunity to be more than the dismal reality that you have given yourself and you are wagging your tail at the chance."

"I told my Dad that I didn't want the job!"

"Because admitting that you want the job would be like bowing down to the great Bradford Meade and that is something that you would never do willingly because of your damn pride. So don't try and put this on me by saying that you're doing it for my interests because you're not—This is between you and your father."

"How is it just between us when you want the goddamn job too and it is just a damn job Willie, I don't see what the big deal is!"

"The big deal is that I have worked 20 years to get where I am and your father has just appointed you in 2 fucking seconds like I have not been working at _Mode_ for FOREVER, waiting and waiting and waiting for that bitch to die or concede and FINALLY when she croaks, he has the AUDACITY to pass me over for an inexperienced D-list armature artist who hasn't been in page six without having a staple in their face in the last 3 years!"

He stepped back, his bravado deflated as he took a look at her and saw the red of her eyes as she looked at with an anger that he hadn't even begin to register. He didn't understand the resentment that she was spewing at him, the anger in which she was speaking to him. She was absolutely apoplectic at the thought of him belittling the job as Editor-In-Chief, let alone taking it.

"So that's how you really feel about me?" He questioned, unbuttoning his suit jacket. "A D-list armature artist?" He nodded, shaking his head at her as his hand reached for the knob. "Well seeing how much this _job _means to you and how much I really mean to you, why don't you just make yourself the happiest woman in the world and take the job. I don't care." With that, he slammed the door behind him; the walls shivering from his cold exit as she took a deep breath; her hands washing down her face with a sigh because this is what she was trying to avoid. This is the fire that she didn't want him to inevitably ignite but knew that it would soon happen despite her wishes, wants and needs. Because she was Wilhelmina and she could wish upon a star, right a Christmas list and do a rain dance; nothing else mattered. Something would happen, something would always happen to screw something up.

It always did.

_**So please don't judge me  
And I won't judge you**_

"I brought the Chateau Monique and the Chablis!" The only acknowledgment that she could give him were here risen brows, visible passed the mug that was held to her face as she sipped her tea quietly at the table. Marc entered the kitchen-area quickly, bundling the bottles onto the counter before facing his palms on the stainless steel; his face perplexed as he stared at his somber boss. With a sigh, she set her mug down and leaned back, tapping a small box on the counter.

He would wait for her to speak, and no he wouldn't push her. This was their thing, she initiates, he nods, she bitches, he pours, she yells, he drinks, she bitches, he pours, she drinks, he drinks; end of story. But this time, the silence seemed to prolong itself as the tapping never ceased and her eyes never left it's mark.

She bit her bottom lip slowly with nod as if she were coming to terms with a realization, her eyes glistening a thin essence that he barely noticed as her head just shook at the issues before her and she finally rose her glance to him with a shrug. "I feel like I'm losing him Marc."

"Oh Willie-" He began, about to give her the usual speech about being too hard on herself or taking things to seriously; however, this time the look that she gave him silenced him to a blank stare so that it registered with him.

She was serious.

"Willie, it's just a job..." He spoke softly, having been at the funeral and saw the news thereafter that attempted to be indicative of the issues that would be caused by Bradford's impromptu announcement. But, seeing how he was an insider of sorts, he didn't take it seriously until hearing it from the horse's mouth.

"Marc I've given everything...to get where I am." She whispered, returning her eyes to the small box in her hand as it continue to tap rhythmically on the counter; diverting her eyes to it's movement. "I give him part of me..." She shrugged, thinking about the aspects of her personality that he had never been privy to, the parts of her that she would rather keep between her and the white walls of Mode. "He loves someone he doesn't even know...He doesn't..." She scoffed at herself, at her ability to hide 7 years of horror to convey the person that she was to him. "He doesn't know who I really am."

"Willie, yes he does...He knows that you're crazy, bitchy, dramatic, psychotic at times and just downright mean when you want to be...Bu-"

"Oh don't you know how to make a girl feel special." She spoke sarcastically, drawing out her words with squinted eyes as he recoiled in an attempt to get her to see the big picture of what he was truly trying to tell her.

"Willie the point is that, yes he has never really gotten to SEE that side of you; which is hard to believe because it has been 7 years but the fact that he hasn't, but he can hear you bitch to photographers on the phone, read about you in newspapers and see the candid videos online...he must have some inkling of...what you're capable of...But...It's not like you're some monster."

_You say that now, but I bet you'll be singing a different tune when you find out that Alex is Alexis and I paid for his surgeries and his falsified death certificate. Or how about the affair that his father's been having for the last 20 years, that I have kept a secret for career advances? He still doesn't know that the first time we met was staged by his father's mistress to get him out of his father's head so that she could continue screwing him._

"Willie it has been 7 years...Now I know that I've only been here for 2 but I can see that you love him...Hell, I was here when he moved in last year and I know it wasn't easy for you but you yielded yourself Willie...to a man...You took a step back, you let go of the reigns...You yielded...And if you give him all of you...and he truly does love you like he claims...He'll yield too." He offered her a small smile and she stretched her face to accommodate his gesture but she truly couldn't bring her heart nor her mind to cooperate. She was too torn by the thing that she had given everything for and the man that she would give anything, but that thing, for. Yes it was just a job but in her mind, it was her Saving Grace. It was the answer to her maybes, hopefuls, perhaps, if only...It was the _maybe my father will be proud of me once I get the title_. It was her _perhaps I can give Nico the attention she deserves once I'm secured in the position that I put ahead of her in the first place_. It was a _hopefully, I won't have to continue to jump through hoops to get what I want, have what I deserve and just...be me._

_But I don't even know if__** ME**__ still exists;_

_Damn._

"Willie c'mon, I've been here ten minutes already and you haven't even threatened me over the clashing patterns on my tie...c'mon, Willie I hate when you're upset, just get drunk and tell me about how large my pores are or how my ankle are too small, ju-"

"Marc please..." She stopped him, not being able to take much more of his voice echoing in her head as she attempted to figure out how she could get out of the situation that she was in; how she could possibly turn it around so that she wouldn't end up staring at her mistakes, her faults, her secrets, her lies.

How could she keep them from flying back in her face?

"Fine, I'll just turn on Fashion Buzz." He resolved, reaching for the remote with one hand as the other moved to grab the wine bottle from the counter. Immediately he froze when he saw who was on the screen and she took notice of his sudden halt in movement. Her eyes that had been trained on the box in her hand, looked up slowly, her hand beneath her chin as she took little effort to look at the TV on the wall as she watched him speak; a gleam in his eye.

…_.And so I have decided to accept my father's offer to secede the late Fey Summers as the Editor-In-Che-if of Mode Magazine..._

And that was all she heard.

_**Cause it could get ugly**_

Her curtains had been drawn all morning, shutting out the world as she stared out onto it, looking from her window to see the little people go about their lives. Glancing down at the box in her hand, she shook her head at the confusion that filled her as she tried, with her best effort, to understand the chaos that had become her life. In a mere 24 hours her life had been turned upside down and she didn't know what the hell to think. He didn't come back to the apartment that night and she hadn't heard from him all morning despite her attempts to get in touch with him.

He was avoiding her.

She wanted to apologize, to tell him that she didn't mean what she said. She wanted to work it out and was even thinking about proposing a Co-Editor deal to Bradford considering that she was nonetheless deserving of the job but he never gave her the chance. He just calls a last minute press conference and announces that he wants to accept the job offer without her present; leaving the press to speculate that she was jealous or protested the promotion and now she had more bad press.

Ugh.

_Today is not a good day._

She couldn't even concentrate, her mind continuously reverting back to the man that she saw on her TV that previous night. She didn't recognize him, she didn't see...She didn't see Daniel...Something was off, something was different and she would be damned if she was just going to let this destroy them; by God, it had only been 24 HOURS.

_I can't do this today._

She resigned herself to needing a day of rest despite the rumors that would swirl about her leaving early the day after her boyfriend publicly stole her job but she didn't give a damn. She wasn't doing anything anyway and Fey was dead. Who the hell was going to tell her what to do?

She quickly got up from her desk and grabbed her purse and coat, not willing to stay in a place that was giving her analytical migraines over a damn title. "Cancel all of my meetings, I'm going home for the day." She barked in the direction of Marc without even giving him the chance to stop her before she was already strutting passed the array of mini offices and down the tunnel until she was glued to her tracks, watching as he stretched a tape measure across a wall, throwing bits of conversation over his shoulder to the blonde sitting on his desk.

It was like something in her malfunctioned and her feet were now moving on their own accord as her strides became quicker until she was met with his open door; to which she slammed against it's frame and dropped her things on Fey's old chaise.

"Is it really necessary to slam a door? Maybe violently stabbing the _End _Call button on your phone but I don't think door slamming can be rendered appropriate for this situation."

_Really Daniel?! Rendered appropriate?_ Knowing that he always became uncharacteristically proper when he was upset with her and he would begin to speak as if he were conducting a meeting with a stranger...or his father.

She looked to the long-legged thing twirling her hair on his desk and she could have sworn that she was smirking. That was until her eyes went dead and she met the girl with a piercing stare that forced her to jump down from the desk. She paused at the meeting of their shoulders and Wilhelmina's eyes followed her out of the room, until she heard the door slam again.

"Daniel what's going on?"

_Best way to piss off Wilhelmina Slater-evade her question with irrelevant facts. _"Ummmm... A Lunar eclipse...An auction for some of my paintings later on today...Uhhhh..National hug-a-weirdo day and according to my Google news feed, Scotland started this weird smoking prohibition thing." He answered monotonously, having never even turned to look at her throughout her entire tenure of being in his presence. He merely just moved on to the next wall, recording his findings on sticky notes.

She was silent, not even bothering to respond to his idiocy as he busied himself with the menial tasks of something that their contractor could have done. What was this supposed to prove to her? That he had power too, that he could make her miserable, that she was fallible? What was this proving, what was this showing her? "Do you love me?"

His scribbling on a green sticky note was paused and he peeked around his shoulder to look at her and see her usual put-together self. He almost turned back around to continue what he was doing and completely ignore her until noticing the box that was peeking out of her purse on the chaise. Finally he turned around fully with furrowed brows and set his tape measure and writing utensils on the desk before charging over to her and taking the box out of her purse, taking a deep glance at it before looking in her eyes. "You went through my things?"

"You hid it in my closet." She reasoned, not knowing how she could be so calm with the attitude that he was giving her.

"IT doesn't matter anyway because I won't be needing it." HE shrugged, stuffing the box in his back pocket.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, Daniel if we're going to go down this road will you at least do me the courtesy of telling my why?"

"Why? Why, Wils really?" He questioned, not being able to process her inability to recognize her fault in the situation. "I talked to my father...And you know what, he made a lot of sense."

"Since when do you listen to your father?"

"Since he brought up the fact that you were absolutely livid over the prospect of losing a JOB but you didn't even drop a tear to mourn your mentor of 20 years...All these years, I just thought that you just didn't like public displays of emotion but when I really think about it, you don't show emotion at all—You're like a robot!"

"Daniel where the hell is this coming from? How can you—Where are you getting this from? Yesterday we were fine, yesterday we-"

"Yesterday we weren't at odds over a title and an office but today we are...And I'm guessing you saw the news last night so you know...I won."

"You won? Daniel...What the hell did your father say to you?

"Nothing that I'm going to share with you."

"Daniel, are you serious?"

"And I'll be by tonight to move my things out of your place."

Her blood ran cold and she could have sworn that the room was spinning when he stated his plans in such a nonchalant fashion that she was unsure of what she was hearing. Did he really just tell her that he was leaving her? And over what? What the hell had occurred in the passed 24 hours? What exactly transpired in that little father-son bonding moment? Where was the man that she loved, that claimed to love her; because in that moment all she could see was an ego, not the down to Earth homely painter that she had fell in love with...Not the man whose job...was to cheer her on.

What time, what hour, what minute, what second did things change? When did the ice caps melt in Antarctica and Egypt experience snow?

When did the secrets start destroying her?

_**Before it gets beautiful**_

She never responded to him, moving only to pick her things up and leave. She couldn't do this with him, not there and especially not after she realized that she was being double teamed. This wasn't Daniel talking and telling how close he got to her when picking up the box and the acidity of his breath told her that he was drinking. He was bucking up against her and she didn't know why; it couldn't all be derived from her comment because he knew that she supported him however he also knew all she felt about art, the industry and it's history compared to fashion.

Arguing with him in that moment was futile; the person that she should be speaking to is Bradford and that was why she was heading up to the Penthouse office instead of standing in Fey's office as he measured walls for no goddamn reason. Without hesitation, she stormed passed his assistant's desk despite the young girl's protests and continued on into his office. Bradford lifted his hooded eyes from the paperwork on his desk briefly, returning his attention to the document before him to sign his name at the bottom. "What can I do for you Wilhelmina?"

"What the hell Bradford?" She questioned, her voice nearly convulsing at the sight of him. "There was a plan, there was a joint effort—Why are you doing this?"

"I'm doing this because you are not my daughter...You are not my child and I have absolutely no responsibility to you or for you. I owe you nothing."

"You said that if I-"

"Kept your mouth shut about your boss and I, then you would get her job...Well she's dead, she's not here to protect you anymore and considering the fact that I already told my son about my extramarital affair, you have no leverage. So I suggest that you take your things, you turn around and you walk out that door and we forget about our little arrangement and I will forget about this moment while you try to remember that no matter what, I am your boss and you report to me. Not the other way around Ms. Slater, please do not forget who I am and what I am capable of...I don't want to be a monster, but I damn well can if the time calls for it."

"Capable, do you really want to talk about capabilities?" She questioned, steaming after realizing that he took the opportunity to spin himself clean and tell Daniel about his affair with Fey, also including him on the knowledge that she was keeping it from him to get ahead. Her palms slammed down on his mahogany desk and he attempted to hide his flinch but she took notice, inching towards his face with a menacing glare. "Let us not forget Mr. Meade that it was my father who saved this company twice from the brink of collapse and is the reason why you even have the opportunity to _kiss the ring_ of this city's political elite. _Please, _do not forget that this relationship is not one of master and servant, I am not your average employee and I will be forgetting this meeting, and this moment while you remember that if you ever interfere with the relationship between your son and I, you will soon realize that in this day, in this time, I...am the monster...And I have absolutely no qualms with showing that to you."

With that he stared at her, wanting to fire on the spot but he knew that doing that would entail incurring the ire of her father and his son; a combination too stressful for him to want to even think about the repercussions of doing so. He wouldn't admit it but he would indeed act as though that meeting never happened because he did know what she was capable of.

But he still didn't care enough to give her the job.

**Everything I say right now  
Is gonna be used in another fight  
I been through this so many times  
Can we change the subject?**

She looked down at her appearance and scoffed, noting her bare feet as her stilettos stood beside her and she had lost six inches. IT was seeming as if life was playing with her; and for the first time in a long time, she felt like a pawn and it was not a game of her own fruition. What else had Bradford told him; obviously enough to make him want to throw in the towel on 7 years of them being together. Obviously, Bradford still had more of a hold on him that Daniel would let on because he was willing to treat her like an invalid over the measly words of a man that, in her opinion, never meant him any good.

He was preying on Daniel's vulnerability to be great, do be more than a foot stool. To be more...than a D-list armature artist. And of course she hadn't helped when she basically called him that. She could have strangled Bradford in that moment, seeing exactly what that bald headed devil was doing.

He was stirring up the past.

Why else would he have hired the thin thing that was on his desk; she wasn't stupid and she saw the girl take a seat at the desk outside his office where Fey's assistant used to sit. Why else would he have hired someone like that unless he was trying to tempt his son out of her grasps and into his as to give him a taste of what he had long given up. It was sickening really, like giving an addict a hit of their favorite pleasure to ensure that their loyalty falls in their best interest.

Her eyes flew up at the sound of his keys clanking against the door frame before it opened and he froze, seeing her standing there, waiting for him. His glance lasted for a brief second before he took his key out of the hole and beckoned to the people behind him; movers presumably.

The young blonde stepped out from behind him with a clipboard as she smacked her gum against her molars, sliding a pen down the list. "So do you like want me to like check the stuff off or like count it or-"

"Just wait here Courtney." He answered, ignoring Wilhelmina's stare as he proceeded to the hallways of their bedroom, the double doors closing behind him.

Meanwhile, the girl was shaking in her hooker shoes. Unable to avoid Willie's glare, Courtney diverted her eyes to the floor until they heard Daniel call Wilhelmina's name. She smiled, stepping back into her heels that allowed her to tower over the girl and she stood close to her, making the girl seem like an ant in comparison as her claws reached out to snatch the list from the clipboard. She tore it to shreds and slapped it on the girl's chest with a scowl. "Too much cleavage."

With that, she walked back to where Daniel stood, pacing the hallway in confusion. "What the hell Wilhelmina, all the goddamn doors are locked!"

"I know."

"I can't get to my things."

"I know."

"What do you mean _I know_, I told you that I was moving out."

"You're not moving out." She told him directly with a chuckle at his determination to get out of her presence. "You're not going to walk all over me and trample on what we have spent the last 7 years building because of what your father told you so that you would forget about me and take the job. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Oh really? Now you're concerned about what I know and what I don't know, but you weren't so concerned when you were getting something out of me being in the dark."

"Well obviously I didn't get anything out of it because I still got screwed over. And even if I wasn't getting anything out of it, I still couldn't have told you anything because I would have lost my job Daniel! Fey was my boss, what the hell was I supposed to do?"

"Trust me! Trust me Wils, you were supposed to trust that I would never endanger you or your job if you would have told me that my father had been screwing around on my mother for 20 years."

"Trust you? How am I supposed to trust you when you're so quick to throw away 7 years over your father, who you don't even trust? How am I supposed to trust you when you get ready to leave me over he-said she-said crap" How am I supposed to trust you when 24 hours after a small argument, you're already back to doing what you do best with that...THING out in my living room?"

"That's nothing-"

"That is classic Bradford trying to give you a taste of you used to do best and you fell right for it. And it's not like I'm you father! Why aren't the least bit upset with your whore-loving Daddy, who is the one that has been screwing around for 20 years. All I did was have knowledge about it, he actually committed the act!"

"He told me about how you treat people, about-"

"He told you that I'm a bitch and you wanted to leave me? Totally plausible."

"He told me that you have been keeping things from me.."

"Like what?"

"He wouldn't say."

"He wouldn't say—Honey, don't let him play with your mind! What could I be hiding from you other than what your father has told you to turn YOU against ME, so that you can do what he wants?" She stared in his eyes, praying to God that he wouldn't see past her eyes in that moment, that he would surface-search her and just see her eyes; not her heart, not her soul.

Not her lies.

She couldn't do that, she couldn't be completely honest with him. That would entail losing him, something that she was not ready to do. She...she loved him; how could you prepare yourself to lose someone? How would you set an expiration date on a relationship that was keeping you sane, that was keeping you from becoming what you scorn from in the mirror. He was her balance, her sanity, her heart, he was more to her than she would ever let him know and if she lost him;

She didn't know what monster would become of her.

"Okay, alright...alright." He threw his hands up as if to surrender this tough act that he was putting on for her. "I should have talked to you first, I'm sorry." HE shook his head, his arms wrapping around her without a second thought as to make sure that she took him seriously. "He got to me..." He let her go and stared in her eyes, _only_ seeing her eyes and not the fear behind them. Fear that might allow him to discover her deceit. His lips had captured hers in a short embrace that lasted mere seconds and ended with his forehead resting against hers, the contact their own metaphorical drug that they attempted to resist; leaving them almost breathless. "And we have to talk but for right now..." His thumb flashed across her cheek and he shook his head against hers, not wanting to have to do what was needed. "I think it's best that we take a little break." He felt her stiffen against him and he tightened his hold on her, looking up so that her body fell in his, each dividend and curve falling into his as if they were a perfect match. "Don't, don't do that...It's just some time apart...Obviously if my dad...could...do this to us so easily than I need to search myself." She attempted to pull away and he grabbed her arm, his own arm securely around her waist so that she could not move.

So that she could do no more than stare in those damned blue eyes.

"And you need to figure out if there is anything else that you've kept from me...We need to patch any holes Wils, we need to fix it before someone else comes to destroy it." He told her earnestly, knowing that any crack in their foundation had to be filled or else they wouldn't last, they would just crumble upon a broken platform and in the rubble, in the ashes...

Whose to say that they would make their way back to each other?

With a final embrace, he kissed her briefly but he had to pull away at the same rate that he had met her; knowing the weakness that would befall him if he stayed any longer. "I'll be staying at my old apartment...But I do need some clothes." He smiled halfheartedly and she did the same to him, stretching her face to appease him and getting his message.

She stepped forward, reaching into her pushed-up cleavage to retrieve the key. He chuckled at her and shook his head as she opened the door and allowed him to retrieve a few things. After about 20 minutes, he emerged with a black duffel bag, likely carrying a couple of wrinkled suits that would need dry-cleaning but she knew that he was moving as quickly as possible to make it less of an awkward situation. Less of a goodbye...Because it wasn't...It wasn't supposed to be...

Was it?

Stepping out of the door, he touched her arm, leaning down to press his lips upon her forehead as she stood in front of the open door; allowing him to go forward. Without hesitation, she grabbed the lapel of his jacket and pulled him back to her. "You said that you were going back to your apartment...You told me that you sublet it months ago..." He stared at her, his eyes never wavering and she realized that he was far from innocent in their tumultuous relationship. Which is why her hold on his jacket tightened and she lurched him down to her height and a shiver crept up his spine when she kissed him and he tore back from her, looking down at her stature with an answer to the question that she was asking with her lips.

He shook his head.

With the same fervor, she pulled him back down and connected their lips to a passionate high that made it harder to detach himself but he still did, with the same answer. "I can't Wils." He answered her, knowing exactly what she was doing and yet having the same answer for her each time she asked...no matter how she did it. "I have to go.." He pulled away gently and she remained, leaning on the open door as he proceeded down the hallway; shortly turning back to look at her with a whisper that would change everything from that moment on, whether they liked it or not.

"See you at work on Monday."

**Just let the past, just be the past****  
****And focus on things that's gonna make us laugh****  
****Take me as who I am, not who I was****  
****I promise I'll be the one that you can trust**

My name is Wilhelmina Slater and I...I don't want to be a monster. I don't want to be a manipulative, vindictive person who seeks out any way to get what they want. I don't want that if it means losing the one person that I care about the most. I don't want to make this sacrifice...I don't want this deal. I didn't sign up for this! Yes I sound hysterical and yes I sound irrational because I know that life is fatalistic, I know that life is unfair, I know that I will pay for what I have done but is it too much to ask to allow myself t...for one moment...for once...Can I, for once, play the fool? Can I be the naive one, can I not know what I know? I don't want this...I don't want to know about the unfair nature of life and I sure as hell don't want it to take it's toll on me...All I wanted was...

All of it...

I just wanted...all of it...I wanted the career...I wanted...the career...the husband...the family...But I guess I really don't need to ask for naivety because I already have it. I know this because I am quite aware that my career advancements have been squashed, that the love of my life just walked out on me and I haven't even heard from my daughter since she got kicked out of the last boarding school...I know that I can't have it all...

And yet I still wish for it.

Because, being the...manipulative, vindictive, lying, secretive...monster that I am...I'm just as naive as the next person to believe that I am untouchable.

Obviously I'm not.

X

My name is Daniel Meade and my...my heart hurts...You didn't see the look in her eyes when I walked out that door with Courtney and the useless movers...You didn't feel the pull between us when she was kissing me as if she was asking me, pleading with me, begging me to just stay with her...Just stay with her that night...to be her rock that night...But I couldn't.

The blind can't lead the blind and as broken as I am, having been manipulated by my father after thinking that he couldn't touch me...I need to search myself. How did I let him damage us? Or were we already damaged and it took my father to bring it to light? Wils and I have had our fights, our disagreements...But never this big...We've never separated...And I know it's hurting her, I know it and that, that hurts me too but sometimes I have to consider myself and my sanity...and If I'm losing my mind, and she is losing her mind...where is the stability in this relationship?

That's why we need a break..

I need to figure out who I am outside of my father's mistake and Wils' cheerleader...Because that's what I did—I moved from one to the other with no break in between...I never got to discover Daniel, I never got to go passed the crappy paintings and the alcohol...And what saddens me is...

I don't know how long this is going to take.

All I know is that I start work on Monday and if we've never been tested before...

We're about to be.

X

My name is...my name is Bradford Meade...And my lover has died...And my wife has killed her...So I thought...But now I have reason to believe that she isn't dead and if she isn't dead than who the hell did Claire ax in that fiery car accident? Trust me, I have more on my mind than the menial love life of my son and his girlfriend...I need to figure out what happened that night...And then once I do that, I can finally help my wife put back the pieces, I can help her put herself back together because she's broken.

And I broke her.

I pushed her and I knew what I was doing but I was too caught up in having my fantasies fulfilled to realize that my wife was nearing the edge of a cliff...And now that she's fallen off...

I don't know how to get her back.

But what I do know is that Wilhelmina Slater is up to something, she knows something and sooner or later I am going to find out what it is and blow it wide open...She's holding Daniel back...

When Daniel was a little boy, he used to fear that there were monsters in his closet...under the bed...I would come in and do a _check, _easing his mind of any worry and making him believe that all was well. And he would believe me, he would heed my warnings and believe me when I told him that everything was going to be okay, that if he followed my advice, everything would be fine.

Until now.

All he is concerned about is her, her career, their life together...It's not like she can give him children so I don't know what the big hoopla over her is anyway. Yes I understand that she is a beautiful woman and he loves her but she offers him nothing to gain from their relationship. And as his father, it is my job to save him from her;

The monster in his closet.

**So please don't judge me_  
_And I wont judge you_  
_Cause it could get ugly_  
_Before it gets beautiful**

**Let It be beautiful**

**Next: Merge into Ugly Betty Story lines & _What was in that box?_**

_**Go ahead, where it says "Type your review here"...Type your review please lol Jk, Hope you enjoyed =D**_


	3. No One Part I

_So sorry for the delay but I have been up to my ears in homework for the passed couple weeks staying up till 2am just to finish so I didn't have time. Hopefully you enjoy this installment although it was not as long as I wanted it, I thought that you all had waited long enough so I decided to just post the first part today rather than have you wait longer. Also I am thinking about doing a throwback Thursday missing scene one shot thing and I wanted you all's opinion. What throwback fic do you want a missing scene from? Pretty Willie 1? Pretty Willie 2? 100 years? Trials and Tribs? Holidaze? Whatever you want, let me know in a review or in a PM and also include what the missing scene would focus on. Just an Idea. K, enough talking lol Enjoy!_

"How are you recovering?" She eyed the IV-drip carefully as the bandaged figure before her stared, their eyes the only part of them that remained original. It was probably in her best interest to stay away from her; for the sake of her sanity. But nonetheless, she sat before her, unprepared for the proposition that was about to swing her way.

"You and...Daniel...Are you two still together or has Daddy Meade found a way to separate you two as well?" She questioned cryptically, her voice sounding similar to the rasp of an adolescent ascending puberty as their tone regenerates.

Wilhelmina shifted, pursing her lips as the woman doubtlessly found glee in her discomfort. "I asked about your recovery."

"And I asked about yours dear."

"What are you implying?"

With lack of ease, the wrapped being leaned forward and beneath the cloth over her mouth, the silhouette of a smirk began to grace her lips before she spoke. "I'm simply making an assertion...Considering your relenting to let...Daniel take the position of Editor-In-Chief...One would assume that you have softened and-" She paused, allowing Wilhelmina's reaction to speak recoil before continuing on with her analytical premise of the situation. "That indubitably has rustled some of your well plucked feathers...And if memory serves me correctly, once someone wrongs Wilhelmina Slater, their demise is surely to follow suit..."

Wilhelmina smiled falsely, leaning forward to get up as she pulled her purse closer to her and neared the door. "I told you the first time, I am not going to help you bring him down...This changes nothing." She shook her head at the woman's words that seemed to implicate her strength as a person yet her weakness as a woman, seeing how she was trying to blatantly manipulate her right off the bat. "What you need to understand is the simple fact that...I love him and while I'll pay for your medical bills and recovery because of our long history...I will not betray him to satisfy your petty feud, so stop asking me."

"Oh I won't be asking again...You'll come back."

"Sure." Wilhelmina mumbled sarcastically as she exited the room, hand on the knob with the intention to turn before that raspy voice began again.

"Because what you have to understand is that love...is a weakness, specifically your love for that man-whore of yours. And the sooner you realize that, and you realize just how little he's changed and how little he truly does trust you, the 7 years that you have spent together will soon amount to nothing more than great sex, bad publicity and thoughts of how pretty your babies would be knowing that the two of you can't even-"

"That is enough!"She had snapped momentarily, turning back to the woman would wide eyes in labored breath. Once again, she could see that smirk begin to rise beneath the covering of her mouth and she knew that she had given her exactly what she wanted.

The root of her weakness.

Without a second thought, she turned back to the door and slammed it behind her. She held steadfast to the knob as she attempted to collect herself after allowing Frankenstein to get under her skin. _Today is not the day. After all._...

It was Daniel's first day at Mode.

X

Daniel grinned as she whispered in his ear seductively, giggling airily as if each syllable of his words held an inside joke. Without Willie, he was free to enjoy the perks of being Editor-In-Chief of a Fashion Magazine, with models and opportunist sticks at his disposal. Not saying that he was sleeping with any of them but the view from his office was pretty nice...Plus, he and Wilhelmina were on break...Breaks weren't exclusive.

At least that's what he was telling himself.

"Oops." She smiled, dropping a pencil between his legs. With a smirk, she disappeared beneath his desk to get what she dropped and, from what he could see, a little bit more. HE looked down at her as she bit her lips, twirling the pencil in her hands before looking up to see his father smiling in his doorway.

"How do you like your new office?" Bradford questioned, looking around at the decorations of white and orange that he had hand picked himself.

"Um uh..." He glanced down briefly at Courtney as she smiled deviously, her dopey eyes begging the question of why he was stalling. "Can you give me...a moment please. There's some things that I need to...wrap up...before the meeting this morning.."

Bradford turned around to leave, only to be caught by the sight of a lacy pink bra in the shrubs of his office. He turned back around, the lingerie on his finger. "Interesting decorating motif.."

Daniel shook his head, trying to explain. "No, no you don't—I was screening models today and-"

"Naked?" Bradford questioned, beginning to doubt his plan of surrounding Daniel with the woman that he used to associate himself with in an attempt to draw hm farther from Wilhelmina. However he had failed to think of the implications that this might entail on his ability to remember that this was a business, not a strip club.

As if knowing the worst time, Courtney sprouted from beneath the desk, shaken by the voice of Bradford Meade. Daniel shook his head, knowing how it looked despite what it might have been. "Dad, please meet my new assistant...Courtney."

Bradford shook his head, attempting not to hypothesize why the girl was under his desk let alone between his legs. "I'm sorry to interrupt your...dictation but this is not the way you run a magazine."

Daniel nodded, deciding not to protest despite him knowing that it hadn't gone that far. To be quite honest, he was considering keeping Courtney around even though he knew that she was a distraction. Without Wilhelmina, his supposed muse was gone and his excuse was that he needed to surround himself with pretty women to fill the void when in actuality he was just acting out for lack of attention. Every time that he called her she didn't answer and if she was ignoring him then he would do the same with only the photos of him at clubs and bars in Page Six to be his communication to her.

"Is Wilhelmina here yet?"

"You needn't worry yourself with her right now son. Like I said, this is not the way that you run a magazine and chasing after a woman that obviously doesn't want you is not the way to get on track." Bradford turned to leave, having given his lecture for the day before placing the discarded bra back on the shrub carefully.

"Dad..." Daniel began, allowing Bradford to turn back around and face him. "What did you mean by _a woman that doesn't want me_? Why would you say that?"

"Well she hasn't been answering your calls now has she?"

"Yes but, how would you know that?"

Bradford pursed his lips briefly, shrugging off his son's inquiries as nothing more than a stalling tactic before turning to leave. "Just a hunch."

X

"When is the last time that you heard from Daniel?" Marc questioned, fiddling with his tie on the other side of the town car. He didn't expect a response and when he looked up, she just sighed and turned her head; she wouldn't give him one. "I'll just check your phone when you're in this morning's meeting."

Her eyes crossed over to him icily, never saying a word and soliciting all that she had to say through the depth of her stare. He swallowed, chuckling nervously as he padded for in his inhaler on the side of his leg. "It...it was a joke Willie."

"Jokes are funny." She spoke monotonously, spinning her blackberry from her pocket before becoming immersed in the messages in front of her. She paused, momentarily looking up as if to think about something before returning her glare to the screen of her phone. "Did you pick up the gift?" Marc nodded and patted his briefcase as if to tell her that it was already in his possession. "Good." She nodded in response, never giving him the courtesy of looking him in the eye.

Because the look in her own might give him the answer to his first question.

X

Betty Suarez had received an urgent call early that morning, requesting that she make it to work around 11, despite having gone to Meade Publications and been turned down because there were no open jobs. However, there she found herself strutting down the bright tunnel of Mode Magazine. _Why is everything so white?_ She questioned, still wearing a large smile on her face and sporting her Guadalajara poncho with the mindset that it was fashionable despite it's clashing colors and eye searing patterns.

"Oh. My. God." She looked up to see the blue eyes of a blonde staring at her questionably, awe struck by the sight before her. Betty smiled despite the nasty look that she was given, oblivious to the reasons, and just stood there amicably awaiting instructions.

Her eyebrows were bushy, her hair an untamed mess and her teeth were fighting for room beneath her braces; all in all she was not Mode material, unless... "Are you the before?" The receptionist questioned, looking her up and down.

"Huh?"

"The before...The before and after? The photo shoot?" Betty looked around in confusion, not seeing the punch-line in this string of questioning.

The receptionist widened her eyes, knowing that the girl must be foreign if she was not grasping such simple concepts. "Are you DE-LI-VER-ING SOME-THING?" She smiled falsely and Betty laughed, now getting what the girl was after.

"Oh no, I-I work here." She stated with a large smile as if to enlighten the girl that she didn't have to take the service entrance because she was an actual employee.

She scoffed, obviously not believing her. "For?"

"For the new Editor-In-Chief."

The revelation made the girls eyes harden, her brow rising a bit with disbelief. "Oh?"

Soon the two found themselves going down another tunnel as the receptionist led her to the conference room. "So everyone is in the conference room waiting for Daniel to start his first meeting. I'm Amanda by the way."

"Betty."

"Yeah, FYI Betsy, assistants are usually here before their bosses."

"Oh yeah I was filling out paperwork in HR."

"Yeah just don't let it happen again...So uh, where do you come from?" Amanda questioned, taking in the loud noise from Betty's outfit as they donned the tunnel.

"Queens."

"What job did you have?"

"Oh actually apart from internships and part-time jobs, this is my first real job."

"That's funny, I was told that I didn't have enough experience for the position." She waived her hand in the air carelessly. "It's over there."

Betty blinked wordlessly, turning to look at her future in one of the conference room of one the largest fashion magazines in the world "You are an attractive, intelligent, confident business woman."

X

"So I have to confess..." Daniel began, leaning over the doughnut of the conference room. His eyes stalked around, finding no one to be recognizable of the person that he wanted to see. Everyone was there; everyone was there but her. "I am probably not going to remember anybody's name." He looked up with a smile, shaking his head at himself and his horrid memory. "And I-" He was shortly interrupted by the hard thud of a red ball of color hurling at the glass door. HE turned around as light cackles ignited from the room and a head was lifted from that ball of color with a disoriented glare. She fixed her now crooked glasses and swept her bangs away as she got up, opening the door that she now knew, was a door and not just open space.

"Are you okay?" Daniel questioned, looking concerned for the girl while also holding in his own set of chuckles and snickers from the hilarity in which she entered the room.

"I'm okay, I'm fine, so sorry...So sorry to interrupt you.." She sputtered as she mad her way around the room to an open space as the glares began to pierce her, each person looking at her with disdain.

"Anyway...I wish I wa—uh..." He looked up, hearing her shuffling passed more people to sit down, ultimately interrupting him once again. "I wish that I wasn't coming in as the new guy under such terrible circumstances and I do realize that I have some awful big..." He looked up again, seeing the wide eye smile of the young woman and the glaring shine from her braces. "teeth, shoes...shoes to fill. But I cannot express how excited I am to be working with such an amazingly talented and dedicated staff such as yourselves." He stopped, seeing how each time he looked up he got a different distraction and this time was no different.

She was there.

"How nice of you to join us Wilhelmina, just a whopping.." He feigned looking down at his watch that was not even there. "40 minutes late."

Wilhelmina glanced at him from her dark sunglasses, snatching them off to see that the meeting was in progress. She looked up at him, seeing the sight of annoyance on his face but she really couldn't pinpoint why seeing how she had jut walked in the door and he was the one that wanted to throw his weight around so early in the game.

Well two can play at that game.

"So sorry that I'm late...But I see that you have started without me..." She set her bag down on the table between two editors as the surrounding employees seemed to be eating up the tension between them.

"Sorry Wilhelmina, I waited-"

"Marc...gift." She smiled, hoping to make him feel like an asshole when he realized that she had still gotten him a congratulatory present. But her jaw nearly dropped when she saw Marc reach for the box out of his briefcase that was obviously too big for the gift that she had told him to get.

"Thank you...but as I was saying-"

"Well aren't you going to open it?" She questioned, deciding to trust Marc on whatever he did get him because his attitude was not truly warranting the gift that she had intended.

He looked up, a bit taken aback by her aggressive behavior, especially in front of the people that he was supposed to lead and gain respect from despite his past and ever changing present. He opened the box and lifted a flower shaped statue from the inside.

"Thank you...but it's Daniel...not Danny."

She stared monotonously, deciding to go with the flow rather than blow a gasket over Marc's first misstep. "What? I am hellaciously upset Marc."

"I am so sorry-"

"Shh...Purge this from memory please."

Daniel nodded, trying to figure out the passive-aggressive nature that she was handling him when it was her in the first place that was ignoring him. "As I was saying, this is a very exciting time for me-"

"I believe that we need to discuss the Fabia cosmetic account." She cut him off without a second thought, not about to sit there and listen to how excited he was to screw whores all day and party all night with her title on his desk because Daddy Meade got shot in the ass with a nepotistic needle. How could he be excited when he had no idea what he was doing and the highlight of his career has so far been estranging her and stealing what she had worked so hard for.

"Fabia cosmetics?"

"The biggest advertisement of the year and the only paid layout that editorial ever works on."

"Well I'm sure that Fabia will love whatever we come up with."

"Daniel, you-you don't understand. Given the..new..circumstances, Fabia needs to sign off on the spread before we go to print. Obviously we are all hear to help you succeed and we all have plenty of ideas. So I think that we should get back to work to make sure that this..your very first issue with your name on the masthead...sparkles." She gave him a tight smile and swung her head to the attention of all others before her. "So everyone, let's not dilly-dally...our editor needs us."

As if she were in charge, just like that the meeting was adjourned and Daniel found himself in the midst of a partially empty room and an unspoken speech when he felt someone approach him.

"Mr. Meade..." She tapped his shoulder. "Mr. Meade." She tapped his shoulder once again and he turned around. "Mr. Meade I just wanted to introduce myself personally, my name is Betty Suarez."

"Hi Betty, who do you work for?"

"Um, I work for you...I'm your new assistant."

X

"Knock, knock?" Daniel looked up from the stack of papers that he had no idea what to do with and saw Wilhelmina standing in his doorway, her fist on the open door. His glance at her was brief and almost non-existent as he returned his mind back to the papers before him, his brows disgruntled at the words being thrown at him. She frowned a tinge but closed the door behind her before moving to close his blinds to shield their conversation from the outside offices.

"What are you doing?" He questioned but was inevitably ignored as she continued to do what she had her mind set on. After closing the blinds to her liking, she returned to the door and took a key out from the small pocket of her suit before locking the door. "How did you get that key?"

"I also have the key to your diary." She responded, smiling shortly only to have him stare at her with a monotonous hold.

"What do you want Wilhelmina?" He asked her coldly, not daring to look back at her as he shuffled through the stack on his desk. She sighed and set a gray box on his desk before taking a seat across from him. She didn't want to be intimidating or domineering, she wanted to be them...She didn't want the frothy atmosphere, she wanted the warmth of their relationship.

If only for a moment.

"What is this? Another flower pot trophy?" HE scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. "No thank you."

"Happy Anniversary sweetheart."

"What?"

"Happy Anniversary?"

"Did you just call me sweetheart?" He looked up from the papers and met her eyes, holding the stare for mere seconds until his heart began to melt from the vulnerability that she had surrendered to him. He knew why she had closed them in, locked the doors, closed the blinds and shut them in.

She couldn't let him see the woman he came to love outside of those walls, of those confines, in that buildings because that's just not how she was. She couldn't risk tearing down the artillery that she had built up just to get him to see her; to see that she was still there. She needed to make a sanctuary, a safe place to just tell him.

_I'm hurt...but...I'm still here._

"I-I didn't...I didn't remember." HE shook his head, a tad ashamed as she stared at him with a small smile on his face. She just shrugged and nudged the box closer to him with a smirk until he gave in with a sigh. HE set down his pen and picked up the box, cracking it open with a sigh to see that it was case'n'band platinum Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon watch. He twisted it over between his fingers, the platinum sending chill shivers through his bones. "Wilhelmina you didn't have to-"

"It's engraved." She notified him, sitting further up in her seat as he glanced at the back of the face, his eyes returning to hers with a look of guilt that she quickly brushed off

"Allow me." She offered, ignoring him completely before standing up to walk around his desk. Like clockwork he stood up as she came around the bend of his desk and moved to fasten the watch on his wrist. "If I were you, I would wear this when to your next meeting." She advised, his eyes never leaving her form as she handled his gift with care, before twisting it on his wrist upward so that he could see the face.

"Why is that?"

"Because ad buyers love it when you actually wear their merchandise; truly and authentically advertising it rather than placing a 2-D picture of it on a page." She smiled, looking in his eyes shortly. "And you need to make a good impression; especially considering the circumstances.

"I didn't get you anything." He reminded her bluntly before looking up to meet his blue orbs with her own; asking so many questions and getting little answers to them.

"I didn't expect you to." She whispered back, adjusting the cuff on his wrist before relinquishing any connection she had with him to step back and look him once over. "You look great."

"Wils what was that in the conference room?" He questions, wanting to know why she hadn't answered his calls all week and then turned around and practically bitch-slapped him in front of all the employees.

She shrugged, shaking her head at herself. "I, I don't know what you want me to say Daniel, this is how I am here...This is how I handle things here-"

"By making me look like an invalid-"

"That wasn't the intention but Daniel—Daniel I can admit that was partially me...being a little upset with you."

"About?"

"I have called you everyday this week and not once did you pick up the phone nor did you return any of my messages."

"What are you talking about? I called you all thi-" He stopped, having a revelation of sorts before recoiling. "My phone has been acting...crazy...I um...I have to call my carrier this afternoon."

"Oh..." She nodded, not really believing his story but telling how quickly his ears had gone from pale to pink to blush red, she knew that it was something much bigger than Verizon wireless. "But we can talk about that later...I have a meeting to go to...But I just wanted to tell you-"

"Happy Anniversary." He mumbled back at her, guilt eating at the tone of his voice as he stared at the women he loved yet had regarded with the least he had to offer for the past week because of his father, who he know suspected of spying on him, and his meddling. "7 years..." He remarked to himself, under his breath yet aloud enough for her to hear.

"I know." She agreed, knowing the thoughts that were going through his mind. The trivial nature of their fights, the allotted disintegration of their relationship over petty mind-blasts.

"I can't believe I forgot, I'll get you something—I-"

"Don't worry about it...The only gift I need from you is to take the key from the bottom of that box and have your things back at the apartment by the time that I get home." He chuckled, lifting the cushion from the box to see the silver key that he had returned to her.

She wanted his damn socks by the bed so that she could tell him to stop being sloppy. She wanted her mug in is hands in the morning so that he could smirk at her, knowing that he was using the wrong cup just to irk her. She wanted someone to mock Ana Wintour with after a bad sales month; someone to keep her feet warm at the end of the bed.

She wanted him home.

"Well then Happy Anniversary." He spoke in a low tone, smiling as her eyes lit up with the slightest glint, knowing that things, hoping that things would soon enough return to normal. "Oh and Wils..." She turned back around, about to unlock the door. "About that box you found. I didn't change my mind...You know that I want nothing more than to call you my wife but given the circumstances-"

"I know." She shook her head, happy enough that he was coming back home. She didn't need a ring at the moment; things were to fresh and they still needed to repair them before they could add anything to the relationship. "I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight.." He responded before settling back in his plush seat with a smile, feeling as though a burden had been released from him. At the moment he really didn't care about what happened that morning, he just wanted to go home and be with the one person left in the world that he could always return to feeling the same desire from when they first met. After all, the back of his watch said it all.

_D-_

_No one can destroy our world._

_-W_

_Happy Anniversary._

No one.

X

Up in the penthouse Bradford slammed down his laptop, growing impatient with their relationship. If they were going to break up, he need him to do it now so that he begin to mold him to take over company not remain some menial Creative Director's puppy dog. Glancing at his computer screen again, the leaves of his shrub cam in the way as he saw glances of Daniel staring at his watch with those damn lovesick puppy eyes that made him sick. "Get your head in the game Daniel." He grumbled to himself, having seen the heartfelt moment and was not moved in the least bit of the sense. They couldn't be together; not if Daniel was going to be the man that Bradford wanted him to be. So if they wouldn't destroy themselves...

He would help them.

He pressed the receiver of his phone to his ear. "Hello? May I speak to Phillippe Michel...Hello, this is Bradford Meade...Am I to understand that you are still in close relationship to my eldest son Daniel Meade?...old friends you say?...Well allow me to offer you a small proposition..."

_To be Continued..._

Next Week, No one Part II

_**Just a reminder to let me know about the throwback Thursday requests just to get everyone back in the Danimina mood lol**_

_**Review =D**_


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